The ‘Social Enterprise as a catalyst for sustainable and healthy local Food Systems’ (SEFS) project, explored how social enterprises of all kinds can bring forward innovations in healthy and sustainable food. It directly involved six social enterprises working in areas from community transport to early years education, as well as holding workshops with many other social enterprises. The insights and good practice in this guide come from them, with some additions from the observations and experiences of Shared Assets and academic partners. Thank you to everyone who contributed their wisdom!

The guide is designed to be useful for other social enterprises considering how best to enhance and grow their activities and beneficial impacts. It contains some questions to help you think through the tensions that can come as part of this work. It also has some ideas for ways to scale based on good practice that has emerged through the SEFS project, and signposts you to other sources of inspiration you might find helpful. We hope it will support the already sprouting shoots of a more equitable food system to expand and flourish.